Andrew Eldritch (born Andrew William Harvey Taylor, 15 May 1959) is an English singer, songwriter and musician. He is the frontman and only remaining original member of the Sisters of Mercy, a band that emerged from the British post-punk scene, transformed into a gothic rock band, and, in later years, flirted with hard rock.
Formerly a drummer, Eldritch also programs the tracks for the Sisters of Mercy's drum machine (known as "Doktor Avalanche") and plays guitars and keyboards in its studio recordings but uses live shows to focus solely on his vocal performance. Eldritch is well known for his deep and melancholic bass-baritone singing voice as well as his poetic (and sometimes politically charged) lyrics.
The Sisters of Mercy is regarded as a major influence on gothic rock, and Eldritch, with his (former) shock of black hair, bass-baritone vocal style and pale and thin look (with prominent cheekbones), was described in the media as a poster boy for the genre, earning him the label "the Godfather of Goth", which he frequently rejects.
He also established the record label Merciful Release. In addition to the Sisters of Mercy, in 1986 Andrew Eldritch established a side-project, the Sisterhood (to keep former band members from using the name), which was quickly abandoned in favour of continuing working under the Sisters of Mercy.